August 19, 2009 Well that was quite interesting!

Now that things are calmed down, we are tied to a buoy on the south side of Jones Island. Sue has been a couple times with Pat and he had always chosen the North Bay. There is a lot of rocking and rolling with the passing of large power boats. It is not uncomfortable, just keeps us well aware that we are on water. So often Sue often forgets that she is living in her house boat and not onshore for Liberté is so comfortable and stable.

Our capturing the ring and tying up to had more action than yesterday’s adventure with Pat’s hat! Sue thought she had broken the Happy Hooker, so was sticking with known entity, the good old boat hook. She directed from the bow, guidance to keep the buoy close enough to the port that she could reach the ring with ease. Today’s approach must have come too quickly and the boat sped past the buoy. She moved deftly to mid-ship and did catch the ring. Pat instructed her to move forward. The pole was extended as far as it could. Her arms stretched out to as far as they could without leaning over the lifelines. Pat’s kayak, lying against the deck, portside prevented her from moving forward. Desperately trying to hold the pole without going over was impossible, even as tenacious as she is. The boat seemed to be going in the wrong direction and she was having an ill-fated tug of war with the buoy! Hold on she did. What seemed forever, she lost to her amazement; she was left holding onto the red rubber handle of the pole. She watched in frustration, as the sea consumed the pole, first slowly and then swallowed in one large gulp. It was lost to the depths. (This took place just a good stone throw away from Barry’s Rock.) Her thumb hurt. She wanted to figure out why and how this happened. Pat’s determination to get tied to that buoy had her focus on his objective to secure the boat. He instructed Sue to grab a free line, lie on her belly at the gate and direct him to the buoy, then reach down and thread the line through the ring. It did take three passes and with calm and resolve the adventure was over. Upon standing, walking the line up to the bow, securing to the boat, waves of confusion and discomfort overcame her. Feeling inadequate, and lacking prior knowledge to be useful all the while safe put her in a quiet mood. Her resolution is to always have one side of the boat free of obstruction so she can walk a buoy forward should she have to capture it mid-ship again!

I think that we are all calmer, the frozen water bottle has taken the swelling down from her thumb and the boat seems settled into our new neighborhood. We will now drop the kayaks and hike about the island. Sue is excited to point out eagles to me. Last year this seemed to the best habitat for the largest population she happened across in nine weeks.